The T List: A London Lunch Spot That Keeps It All in the Family

After stints at such storied culinary destinations as the River Café and Spring, the 31-year-old chef Max Rocha has opened his own restaurant, Café Cecilia, serving breakfast and lunch in a gleaming new space overlooking Regent’s Canal in East London. The name is a tribute to Rocha’s Chinese paternal grandmother, Cecilia, “who saved up money with her poker buddies to send my dad to London to study fashion,” he says. Inside, it’s a family affair: Rocha enlisted his father, the fashion designer John Rocha, to consult on the minimalist interiors, and his sister, the designer Simone Rocha, created the staff’s outfits. Rocha’s food is an unfussy riff on the meals his mother, Odette, made for him and Simone when they were growing up in Dublin: homemade Guinness bread; a pork, apricot and pistachio terrine; deep-fried sage and anchovy fritti; slow-cooked rabbit ragù with tagliatelle; and, for dessert, a version of Odette’s famous chocolate pot, a rich concoction of chocolate, eggs and cream served with a sprinkling of sea salt and a buttery shortbread biscuit.